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Yum! Gallo Pinto!
December 2nd, 2005
Costa Rica is not known for it’s fine cuisine. In general, this is probably a deserved reputation as it tends to be centered around rice, beans, chicken, pork, and beef (tongue especially is very popular here). However, how the above items are combined is within the realm of the cook and that makes all the difference. I find a lot of the cooking here to be really good! Generally, beef here is terrible. I think this is due in part to the lack of vast grazing lands. Also, the concept of aging a steak is not yet part of the Costa Rican culture.
To me, it has always been a wonder why folks move to a foreign country like Costa Rica only to live in residential strongholds of their countrymen and spend all their time at Tony Romas, TGIFridays, etc.
Many never make an attempt to learn the language nor the customs of the new country. I guess they just want to be able to say they live in Costa Rica.
If there is one dish that perhaps represents Costa Rican cuisine more than any other, it has to be Gallo Pinto. Anyone considering a move to Costa Rica should give this dish a try because it will most certainly be in your life here in country!
This simple (sort of) dish contains the requisite rice and beans, but the seasonings and cooking make all the difference. Normally, this is more of a breakfast dish… often served with eggs, a breakfast meat etc., but it is by no means limited to breakfast. In fact, we had it for dinner last night.
I have sampled well over a hundred ‘versions’ of GP since I have lived here. Very few are crummy. Some are ummmm… OK. Others are good… and then there are the really good recipes. My housekeeper Jeanette makes a really good gallo pinto. My wifey makes one that rivals Jeanette’s. This is unusual because Luisa can’t make coffee. This to me is astonishing! A Tica who cannot make coffee. Oh well… she is so great in so many other areas. Also, it is really good to have a new bride who doesn’t speak English nor understand the term blog!
Now to REALLY digress…. ML just woke up and called me back to bed for morning H and K. She asked what I was doing and I told her (which is why she doesn’t have to learn English… duh!). I have tried to explain the concept of the blog, but though she understands my words, I think the concept of publishing ones diary is anathema. Diaries are private. Her’s is… all 57 volumes! Anyway, I asked her how she can make such a fine GP and suck at making coffee, She just laughed and laughed and snuggled closer. Geez I adore this woman. Ten days left.
OK… back to the subject.
The BEST Gallo Pinto though, is made by Kembly, my son’s girlfriend (novia) here in Costa Rica. Kembly can make coffee too, but her GP is special. After annoying her for many months, she finally gave me the recipe which I am adding below for anyone who is interested. In English and in Spanish BTW. Enjoy! Coming to CR? Try your hand at the national dish!
Gallo Pinto
Ingredients
1 cup of cooked rice
1 cup of cooked beans
1 chopped onion (small)
1 small chopped red pepper
2 cloves of garlic chopped
1 tbs oil
¼ cup chopped cilantro
4 Tbs. Salsa Lizano (available in our online store) – (can useWorcestershire sauce but don’t expect the same taste!)
Pinch of black pepper
1 tbs seasoning
How to prepare
1. Fry onion, red pepper, garlic, cilantro in the vegetable oil, about 3 minutes.
2. Pour in the beans and add the sauce, black pepper and seasoning. Let it cook for a few minutes, but don’t let it dry out.
3. Pour in the cooked rice and mix it with the beans
Enjoy with:
Sour Cream
Platanos maduros
Eggs (fried or scrambled )
Or in Spanish
Gallo Pinto
Ingredientes
1 taza de Arroz cocinado (sencillo reventado)
1 taza de frijoles cocinados con poco caldo (sencillos en el sabor)
1 chile rojo picado
1 cebolla picada fina
2 cdas cilantro picado muy fino
1 cdta aceite
1 cda de ajo
4 cdas de Salsa Lizano (available in our online store)
2 pizca de pimienta negra
1 cubito
Preparación
1- Se sofrien en el aceite la cebolla, el chile, el culantro, ajo.
2- Cuando están muy crujientes se les agrega los frijoles cocidos y la salsa lizano, pimienta negra y cubito.
3- Se agrega el arroz y se frien un poco todos juntos para mezclar sabores.
4- Se dejan un momento en reposo , luego se mueve con un cucharon los ingredientes para que se mezclen.
Se puede acompañar con Natilla
Platanos maduros
Huevos fritos o revueltos
47 Responses to “Yum! Gallo Pinto!”
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Kembly’s recipe is very similar to mine, but if I cook bacon in the morning, we use a bit of the “manteca” to saute the veggies
That sounds great… and I won’t give thought to the added cholesterol
This is going gto sound really weird; but my wife’s name is KEMBLY too and guess what? She is from Costa Rica, and you will have to excuse me but she is the one that makes the best Gallo Pinto in the world. Since I am peruvian I did not appreaciated it that much before but now, I will do anything for un gallo pinto bien hecho
God Bless
Andres
Well the only way to be sure is a “taste-off”! Loser has to wear a tee shirt that says she came in second in the Great Gallo Pinto Cookoff!
That looks like an excellent recipe, and I am going to try it tonight! Just one question, what specific “seasoning” is used? I have a whole spice rack full of different herbs and spices. Can you be more specific?
Hey John… the CLUE was the Spanish version, “1 cubito”.
This is the standard chcken or beef flavored cubes used for flavoring many items such as stew, soups, etc. Use the brand you like best. Tim
Amigos necesito la receta de Gallo Pinto para un trabajo escolar de mi hijo GRACIAS
Natilla is sour cream? Isn’t natilla some sort of dessert-y type of food?
Nope… Just plain old sour cream.
i lived in costa rica for a while, i never liked the recipes they used in the city, but in the village of naranjo and the middle of the talamancan jugle, i couldnt resist another plate
natilla is like sour cream.. but is sweeter and morethick in some places. having it homemade everyday in the junglw as quite something else in my journey there
Well, I looked at the English version first and was going to go try it when I noticed this under the Spanish version:
1 taza de frijoles cocinados con poco caldo (sencillos en el sabor)
Well, that means the “cooked beans” from the English version are cooked with a little bouillon to taste (I think either beef or pork, I’ve forgotten half my spanish, really) and I think that would probably make a difference. Yes, and the cubito is a chicken/beef bouillon cube. Also probably important. Off to try this. PS – use black beans, that is the most common.
After reading your comment that “Generally, beef here is terrible”, your blog lost some of it’s credibility. Go grab a steak at La Cascada, El Rodeo, Barbeque de los Anonos, or any one of the great Argentinian steak houses that abound and maybe you’ll upgrade that “terrible” to “satisfactory”. You are probably accustomed to corn fed, hormone injected US Prime. If you want that, by all means go to The Outback in the Escatzu Strip Mall, Carretera a Santa Ana…
Well that is why I used the work “generally”!
I AM used to US Grade A (or i was until I got here!). In fact I was always able to buy fine beef at my local Dominicks!
I stand by what I wrote, and the vast majority of my friends who live here agree with my comment.
That is not to say you cannot find a decent steak. You just have to work a LOT harder to find one.
As for your recommendations, here are my thoughts!
La Cascada – Just OK… satisfactory, but you will not be happy with their meat if you have ever eaten at a fine Chicago or New York steak house or any of the fine steak joints around San Antonio (so long as you told them not to burn the thing!)
El Rodeo – C+ at best
Barbeque de los Anonos – Same as La Casada
or any one of the great Argentinian steak houses?
Huh? Most are crummy except for one. Now had you mentioned some of the Peruvian restaurants, then you might be on to something! They import the beef from Peru, and some of it rivals the US.
As for Outback? Oh please.
The word generally means that out of maybe 5,000 restaurants in all of Costa Rica, only a handful serve decent beef.
I just want to recomend the Argetina Steak House in Puerta Veijo de Limon. Being from Texas and supposedly having had good steaks, I and my group were totally blow away by this resturant. It is undoubtly the best steak I have ever had. In fact every resturant that we ate in in this tiny surfing village was excellent!! Yes we the oldest people in the town and we don’t surf,we will make trips back there just for the food.
So why not go to http://eating.therealcostarica.com and post a review?
Thanks for the recipe. I loved my ex-daughter-in-law’s version but since she’s now an “ex” and I didn’t get her recipe before she became an “ex”, I’m glad to have found this one! BTW, isn’t there another Costa Rican salsa similar to Lizano? Salsa Tropical or something like that? I figure, if anyone would know, you would…Thanks!
Lizano is the reason it is gallo pinto
No substitute.
East to get even in the USA. See this:
http://www.therealcostarica.com/bookstore/books_costa_rica.html
Thanks Tim. I have Salsa Lizano; just wanted help remembering what the name of the other salsa was that I had a couple of years ago before I got a hold of the Lizano.
Years ago I spent several months in Costa Rica studying Spanish. I, for one, loved the food. I became totally hooked on Gallo Pinto. I can’t afford to take my wife and kids to Costa Rica, so I am going to try to bring a little Costa Rica to us by trying my hand at Gallo Pinto. Thanks for the recipe!
Pura Vida!
Dave
I suspect the reason beef in Costa Rica is tough is that most of the meat is from Brahmin cattle varieties, which are famously bad for eating as steak.
I think you made a mistake in the recipe above for Gallo Pinto. Two tablespoons of black pepper is a bit too much, even to teaspoons.
La Cascada is the best steak house in all of Costa Rica! I am a tico that lives in California. I travel to CR 3 to 4 weeks a year and I always make a trip or two to La Cascada. Don’t bag on it!!
I travel around the world all the time and have eaten at some amazing steak houses in all the major cities of the world and La Cascada ranks up there.
Just my thoughts
Pura Vida
Gallo Pinto is a Nicaraguan Dish? I know they have it Costa Rica but originated from Nicaragua. I know there was a debate but there was an article for taste magazine that did research on the origin. They dated that it was created earlier in Nicaragua then brought to Costa Rica.
Lotta countries claim to have invented it… I too have heard that Nicaragua was first, but Columbia says they invented it. Quien sabe?
Hi Tim -
I found this recipe again so I could link to it – it is great! But (of course) the first time we made it, we used the (older) English version, and ended up with way too much pepper and Lizano (we still ate it, and it was still pretty good).
The problem comes in because “cda” is teaspoon (tsp, or t) and “cdta” is tablespoon (Tbs, or T).
And, as cooks using English recipes know, 1T = 3t…
Julie
So wait a sec. That “carne” that nobody would identify yet tastes as though it might have been beef is very likely TONGUE? I’m going to kill my mother-in-law the next time I see her.
During my stay in Costa Rica gallo pinto became my favorite main entre although it was sometimes refused to me at dinner. Some restaurant owners would say it was only served for breakfast and others would cater to much to the American pallot changing the recipe and distorting its unique flavor.
I have to agree with you that I also don’t understand why people move or decide to visit a foreign country and expect to eat at McDonald’s or Charlie Brown’s. I have even seen Americans more than once complain about people not speaking English. It is no wonder we are so disliked by most other countries in the world. When I travel I never say I’m American.
I totally agree with Tim that the steak is not very good. I was sorely disappointed in the steaks that I tried and gave up. I absolutely loved the GP especially with natilla. I am going to try the recipe posted above soon. Thanks!
I know you equate natilla to sour cream, but I remember it tasting different from the sour cream that I can buy in the US. I have recently been CRAVING (5 months preggo) some REAL costa rican natilla with my gallo pinto, but it is impossible to find in the US, and all recipes i find online are for a sweet dessert dish. Is there anyway to make US sour cream taste more like natilla?
I followed your link to Salsa Lizano and it took me to the Real Costa Rica website and was I confronted with all books, and lots of them, perhaps hundreds if not thousands.
I searched up to about 15 pages of nothing but BOOKS without seeing anything about Salsa Lizano. I eventually gave up.
It was my impression in your original post that you actually had Salsa Lizano to sell.
If you post again regarding a certain subject and decide to place a reference link in that post could you have the link go to that particular reference page please?
At this stage I do not know if you have Salsa Lizano for sale or a book about it. Whatever the case, the page regarding the link you inserted did’nt even have any books about Salsa Lizano that I could see from the descriptions about the books, nor did any of the other pages of books I looked at.
Cheers
Will
Geez Will… sounds like you’re having (or had) a bad day.
Not sure if you bothered to use the search option (selecting food and drink obviously) but up came Salsa Lizano the first time I searched.
That was the good news. The bad news is that it is apparently out of stock.
The online store is huge with, as you said, and sadly, not every product can be available at the same time. I would suggest that you re-visit in a few weeks, or, if you are having a Gallo Pinto emergency, check elsewhere on the Internet.
To make things easier, I gave Salsa Lizano its own category, so just click Salsa Lizano to see the available options (bottle sizes.
See:
http://www.therealcostarica.com/bookstore/books_costa_rica.html
Fui un missionero en Costa Rica y tengo un visitante por la navidad quien es de CR. Quise hacer Gallo Pinto con maduros y ahora tengo la receta. Gracias!
This is the best and easiest gallo pinto recipe I’ve found. I, however, add about a cup and a half of cooked rice instead of just one cup. It makes the gallo pinto a little fuller without losing any of the rich, rich flavor of the veggies and the Lizano!
Hi –I lived in CR for about 8 years growing up, so I’m gringa/tica. I am fairly certain that Julie has her measurements mixed up — cda means cucharada, or Tablespoon, and cdta is cucharadita, or teaspoon. I’m trying the recipe tonight!
Julie, I think you have it backwards. Cda is the abreviation for “Cucharada” = Tablespoon, whereas Cdta is the abreviation for “Cucharadita” = Teaspoon. The -ita ending in Spanish is the diminutive, making something smaller. That -ita ending is where you get the ‘t’ in cdta.
I was in Costa Rica in April/May and fell in love with it. Some friends and I stayed up in some cabinas north of Dos Rios and had an authentic Tica woman cook for us. For breakfast she made Gallo Pinto and that was the most memorable food of my entire trip (besides the piñas of course!). I just had my friend bring me back some Salsa Lizano when she came home for a visit a few weeks ago, so tomorrow night I plan to put your recipe to the test. Hopefully its as good as I remember!
I can’t believe you said CRican beef is terrible. I grew up poor in CR and even I can tell you the meat is just fine. Especially compared to some of the steak I’ve had in the US. Lomito? Ever hear of that? Ever get invited to someone’s house for carne asada? I’d kill (a cow) for some Costa Rican beef. We have plenty of farming lands. I don’t know why you would say we don’t. I’ve been there since I became an adult, and I’ve seen such grazing lands. Another thing, if you want to add a little old fashioned flavor to gallo pinto, dice some green mango in.
Well…. I know there are some crummy steaks in the USA, but if you go to a good butcher, you get will get an aged steak and the meat has fine rippling which enhances the flavor. Here, there is little or no rippling at any butcher I have visited in over a decade. Also, the meat is not aged, a requirement for fine meat. That is NOT to say you cannot get a good steak. You can, but you have to really work at it.
The green mango idea is cool! I’ll try it! Thanks!!
I hope so too!
But… I wonder what an NON-authentic Tica woman would look like
Thank you!
Hi I visited Costa Rica and had an amazing time. I loved it! Since I have been back in the US, I can’t seem to find a place that has Guanabana con leche. I have been craving it so much. Do you think someone can help with a place in California or even how to make it here at home? I recently bought guanabana puree. Im not sure if its the same but most of the internet sites said I could use this.
Thanks. =D
my daughter has just finished studying abroad in Costa Rica for the last 4 months and is missing it terribly all she talks about is her morning gallo pinto I am going to try and make it for her.
Hi Tim, we are in Atenas, and we made Gallo Pinto from your recipe. It turned out just great. With some nice ripe red papaya on the side, yum! We had some with dinner (we are from Nor Cal, used to rice & beans on the side – but GP is much better).
There are still things we will miss (spicy Mexican), but we must adapt to the local tastes.
DJ
I’m with Melissa- I want REAL natilla, but can’t find a way to get it or make it here in the US. Whoever said it is exactly the same as sour cream is a liar. If anyone knows a way to make it or ship it please post!
I live in northern New Jersey and there is a store about 10 minutes from home where they sale of kinds of costarican goodies, like Salsa Lizano, Pejivalles, Guanabana, Sorbetos, Leche Pinito, pre-cooked Gallo Pinto and more. The store’s name is “Las Mercedes” on River St in Paterson.